The introduction of plastic piping to the plumbing industry has achieved a significant saving of time. The piping used in plumbing is referred by a variety of terms such as hose, piping or tubing. Steel piping requires a labour and time intensive fitting and threading process. Rigid copper piping avoids the threading process but replaces it with the need for soldering. Plastic tubing requires less fitting and the resulting joints are easy to use and assemble. Tubing used for household plumbing is placed over a fitting's barbed or ribbed end and secured with a clamp of some sort. It is known to use bands or rings, such as annealed copper rings, over plastic plumbing tubing attached to a plumbing fitting's end to provide a sealed and secure joint. Since the tubing is resilient it is caused to deform over the contour of the fittings end thus preventing the tubing's removal therefrom.
On occasions it is necessary to change the connection at the joint such as to remove or replace the fitting. The fitting can be salvaged for reuse. However in order to be able to reuse the fitting the band or ring has to be removed. Such removal can be challenging and demanding. A hacksaw can be used to angle cut the ring from the tubing and the fitting. However this may result in damage to the fitting and not all fittings are in positions to which a hacksaw can always be easily used.
There are a number of tools used to hold and cut pipes or tubes, however, these pipe-cutters cut the pipe circumferentially. None of these tools could be used to remove a band or ring from a fitting without causing deformation or damage to the fitting. All references, including any patents or patent applications cited in this specification are hereby incorporated by reference. No admission is made that any reference constitutes prior art. The discussion of the references states what their authors assert, and the applicants reserve the right to challenge the accuracy and pertinence of the cited documents. It will be clearly understood that, although a number of prior art publications may be referred to herein; this reference does not constitute an admission that any of these documents form part of the common general knowledge in the art, in New Zealand or in any other country.
It is acknowledged that the term ‘comprise’ may, under varying jurisdictions, be attributed with either an exclusive or an inclusive meaning. For the purpose of this specification, and unless otherwise noted, the term ‘comprise’ shall have an inclusive meaning—i.e. that it will be taken to mean an inclusion of not only the listed components it directly references, but also other non-specified components or elements. This rationale will also be used when the term ‘comprised’ or ‘comprising’ is used in relation to one or more steps in a method or process. It is an object of the invention to provide a Band Cutter that ameliorates some of the disadvantages and limitations of the known art or at least provide the public with a useful choice.